The Bonner Family

Hi! I'm Amos Michael Bonner (4/23/1977). I am first and foremost a father. I have seven kids, my biological daughter Eliza and six adopted children: June, Zachary, Jeremy, Curtis, Anise, and Callie. On top of raising my kids, I've been working as a nurse at the hospital in Neighboring City for the last year and a half. I honestly wouldn't change a thing about my life and my family. The kids are great. All kind and caring with big hearts, big dreams, big goals. And I can't even take all the credit for that.


The only one of my kids to still be in a relationship, June Alanis Bonner (5/3/1995) has been raising her kids with her boyfriend hopefully soon-to-be husband, Stephen Henstredge, for the last year and a half, two years. Their youngest is her biological child, the others children Stephen adopted legally and she (for now) only in her heart. It makes me happy to see at least one of my kids doing what I too failed to do and keeping a good, healthy, strong relationship going. 


Zachary Felix Bonner (8/23/1996) is the second oldest. At almost twenty-three, he's getting ready to finish off his communications degree. He has a little bit of catching up to do. About a year and a half or so ago, he was deep in a relationship with a girl he thought he was going to marry. They connected like he'd never connected with anyone before. He was head over heels for her. When she told him she was pregnant, he was ready to drop everything before he found out that she was lying to keep him with her. He broke up with her, switched schools, and has thrown himself into his schoolwork, taking extra classes to distract himself. I hope he finds a way to relax soon or he is going to burn out quicker than you can say burnout. He already struggles with anxiety; I don't want to watch him spiral any further.


Jeremy Elton Bonner (7/6/1997) was the third child I adopted. He and Zach used to be the closest of friends before everything went down with Zach's ex. Jeremy himself had a bit of a relationship upheaval in the last couple years too. He reconnected with a girl from high school and things were going well. She was expecting, for real unlike Zach's ex. She miscarried and withdrew, ghosting Jeremy. He woke up one day to find that she had packed up her daughter and moved out of their apartment. Since then, his plans changed. Originally planning to be a mechanic, he ditched the idea when he started failing his classes. He slipped into a deep bout of depression, staying at home all day doing nothing but playing video games and sleeping. Curtis and Zach have both helped to bring him out of that, having experience with it themselves. He's starting to feel more like the old Jeremy and it's a good sight to see.


Curtis David Bonner (4/17/2000) recently started his freshman year at the University of California, studying literature and working at a bookstore in his spare time. He's grown up a lot and learned better coping skills to handle his own depression. He told me that he's started working with an on campus counselor, too. So far, he's never had a full relationship. A date or two here or there, but nothing that lasted for any period of time. But he's come such a long way, that maybe that'll begin to change.


Anise Bethany Bonner (5/25/2002) and her younger sister are the newest additions to the family. I adopted them officially just under a year ago now and they've really settled in well. Anise will always be her baby sister's protector. She's earned herself a reputation for getting into fights with kids who pick on Callie. At her last school before moving in with us, Anise gave a kid a black eye and nearly injured the guy a lot more seriously for calling Callie some awful names. Anise ended up nearly getting expelled.


At only fifteen years old, Calliope Saffron Bonner (11/2/2001), or Callie as she prefers, has gone through hell for being a young, black, gay woman. On more days than I can count, she has come home crying because of something someone said or woken up in the middle of the night from a nightmare about her past experiences. Next year, I plan to enroll her in a different school in the hopes they'll be better. Callie has really thrown herself into her dance as her coping mechanism. She is a beautiful dancer, full of grace and energy and passion, and if that's the only good thing that comes out of her experiences, it'll be enough.